Life, within doors, has few pleasanter prospects than a neatly arranged and well-provisioned breakfast-table. - Nathaniel Hawthorne

RFE/RL Daily Report

No. 117, 23 June 1993

RUSSIA
RIGHTS OF SUBJECTS OF FEDERATION RECOGNIZED? SERGEI FILATOV,
THE HEAD OF RUSSIAN PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN'S ADMINISTRATION,
TOLD A PRESS CONFERENCE IN MOSCOW ON 22-JUNE THAT THE WORKING
GROUP TRYING TO PRODUCE AN AGREED DRAFT OF THE CONSTITUTION HAD
COME UP WITH THE FORMULA: "THE REPUBLICS ARE SOVEREIGN STATES
IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION; THE KRAIS AND OBLASTS ARE TERRITORIAL-STATE
FORMATIONS. All the subjects of the Federation enjoy identical
rights in matters of the economy and politics and in their relations
with the federal bodies of power." ITAR-TASS quoted Filatov as
saying that, if this wording was approved, the chances of the
constitution being adopted would be much better. The republics
and regions had strongly objected when Yeltsin suggested that
similar wording on their status be dropped from the statement
of progress on the draft constitution. -Ann Sheehy
TATARSTAN STILL INSISTING ON ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF ITS SPECIAL STATUS.
Tatarstan prime minister Mukhammat Sabirov told a press conference
in Kazan on 22 June that Tatarstan was still insisting that the
constitutional-treaty nature of Tatarstan's relationship with
Russia be acknowledged in the Russian constitution, ITAR-TASS
reported. He suggested this could be done in the form of a special
annotation to the list of the subjects of the federation. Three
further agreements between Russia and Tatarstan were signed in
Kazan on 22 June as part of Russian prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin's
visit to Tatarstan. They were an agreement on property which
divides it into federal, joint, and republican; on customs service,
which states that the unified system of tariffs and dues of the
Russian Federation will operate on Tatarstan territory; and on
the military-industrial complex. It is hoped that the all-important
treaty on political relations will be signed in July. -Ann Sheehy
COMMUNISTS PRESENT THEIR OWN DRAFT CONSTITUTION. At a press conference
organized in Moscow on 22 June by the parliamentary faction "Communists
of Russia," leaders of several Communist organizations handed
over to journalists the text of "the main principles" of the
"Soviet Constitution," which they have prepared. The "Soviet
Constitution" abolishes the presidency and proclaims the parliament
to be the center of supreme power in Russia. According to ITAR-TASS,
the draft says that Russia should continue to develop as a "socialist
country." Participants of the press conference asked members
of the Congress of People's Deputies who do not belong to the
"Communist of Russia" faction for assistance in publicizing the
draft. This draft is not being taken into account by the Constitutional
Assembly. -Vera Tolz
POPOV AGAINST JOINING NEW PRO-YELTSIN BLOC. The head of the Russian
Movement for Democratic Reform, Gavriil Popov, was quoted by
Radio Rossii "Novosti" on 19 June as saying that his movement
will not join the pre-election bloc of Reformist Forces created
recently by supporters of President Yeltsin. Popov suggested
that the new organization lacks a clear political and economic
platform. He stressed that since the defection of Vice-President
Aleksandr Rutskoi and parliamentary speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov
from Yeltsin's camp, he has become suspicious of promises given
by democratic politicians. Meanwhile, the Russian Republican
Party has announced that it intends to set up its own liberal
pre-election bloc, ITAR-TASS reported on 22 June. -Alexander
Rahr
MINERS PROTEST GOVERNMENT DECISION TO FREE COAL PRICES. Russian
miners oppose the presidential decree announced earlier this
week, which envisages the freeing of coal prices from 1 July,
according to Reuters on 22 June. A group of 115 miners from the
Rostov region have been picketing government buildings in Moscow
and demanding a meeting with President Yeltsin and Prime Minister
Chernomyrdin. They were originally protesting against the government's
failure to come up with the money owed to the mines for salaries
and subsidies. According to an agreement signed with the government
in February, they are now owed 200 billion rubles in subsidies.
The miners fear that price liberalization will not help cover
the industry's losses and could lead to the closure of more than
half of the country's mines and to rising unemployment. Russian
Radio reported a statement by the Minister for Fuel and Energy,
Yurii Shafranik, on 21 June, according to whom it is planned
to close 40 mines, which account for half of all state subsidies
to the coal industry. -Sheila Marnie
GRACHEV ON MILITARY EXERCISES. Radio Rossii reported on 22 June
that Defense Minister Pavel Grachev stated that the Russian military
will begin a series of command and staff exercises on 23 June,
with a number of subsequent strategic exercises to be held during
the summer. Grachev also expressed his opinion that a global
war was an unlikely contingency, and that the military is able
to defend Russia in any local conflicts. The latter statements
are likely an echo of the new emphasis on small-scale conflicts
in the revised draft military doctrine, which has yet to be published.
-John Lepingwell
US TRIES TO BLOCK MISSILE FUEL SALES. The New York Times reported
on 23 June that the Clinton Administration has warned Russia
against the planned sale of rocket-fuel ingredients to Libya.
According to the report, the sale is the latest in a string of
exports that have caused concern in Washington, prompting the
US President to send a letter to his Russian counterpart that
threatens sanctions unless Moscow halts such deals. As an inducement,
the US administration has proposed that Russian companies might
share in work on the multi-billion dollar US space station and
launch US satellites. Although Russia has not joined the missile
technology control regime, Moscow insists that it is observing
the controls. According to one US expert, however, defense industrial
enterprises in Russia (and Ukraine) find themselves in dire economic
straits, leading them increasingly to "authorize export of sensitive,
dual-use space-launch, chemical, and biological technologies."
-Stephen Foye
CHINESE AND RUSSIAN EXPERTS DEMARCATING BORDER. The first meeting
of Chinese and Russian experts dedicated to border demarcation
ended on 21-June, ITAR-TASS reported the next day. The two sides
are in the process of delineating their 4,000+ km boundary on
the basis of agreements dating back to 1987. The latest talks
dealt not only with drawing the frontier lines but with the wider
questions of border controls. Over 1,000 experts from the Russian
side alone are working on the demarcation project, which began
this spring. According to the Border Guard representative of
the Russian Federation, Yurii Neshumov, the process is likely
to take at least three to four years. While Neshumov stressed
the friendly relations between the PRC and Russia, he said that
the demarcation has been complicated by illegal cross border
traffic, which he hopes will stop once the boundaries are definitively
drawn and the border guards stationed accordingly. -Ustina Markus
GERMANS IN RUSSIA WANT A REPUBLIC ON THE BALTIC SEA. Freiheit,
an organization of Germans living in Russia, has proposed establishing
a "German Republic of the Baltic" in the Kaliningrad (formerly
Koenigsberg) region, BNS reported on 22 June. Deputy Prime Minister
Sergei Shakhrai and Kaliningrad official Gennadii Polishchuk
indicated that Moscow is unwilling to discuss the idea at this
time, however. -Dzintra Bungs
TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
AZERBAIJAN STANDOFF CONTINUES. Troops loyal to rebel colonel
Surat Huseinov strolled the Baku streets on 22 June, encountering
no resistance from government forces, Western journalists reported.
Newly elected parliament chairman Geidar Aliev telephoned President
Elchibey several times urging him to return to Baku; Turkish
President Suleyman Demirel and acting Prime Minister Erdal Inonu
both affirmed Turkey's support for the democratic process in
Azerbaijan and for Elchibey personally, according to Turkish
Radio of 22 June. Asked by ITAR-TASS to comment on rumors that
former President Mutalibov had returned to Baku and was in alliance
with Huseinov, Aliev refused a straight answer; he likewise declined
to confirm Interfax reports that Huseinov supporters had killed
an Azerbaijan Popular Front official and two government soldiers,
according to The Los Angeles Times of 22 June and The New York
Times of 23 June. Azerbaijan Foreign Minister Tofik Gasymov traveled
to Gyandzha for talks with Huseinov and was scheduled to proceed
from there to Nakhichevan to meet with Elchibey. -Liz Fuller
RUSSIAN OFFICIAL DENIES PREPARATIONS FOR ATTACK ON SUKHUMI. Lt.
Gen. Aleksandr Chindarov, commander of the operational group
of Russian Forces stationed in Abkhazia, denied on 22 June accusations
made the day before by Tamaz Nadareishvili, Georgian Parliament
Chair Eduard Shevardnadze's representative in Abkhazia, that
Russian troops were preparing an attack on Sukhumi, ITAR-TASS
reported. Chindarov stated that Russian troops in Abkhazia continued
to observe neutrality in the conflict. The accusation follows
a statement made on 19 June by the Russian State Committee for
Federation Affairs and Nationalities which urged Georgia to recognize
the autonomy of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and to establish a
federal system. Meanwhile, fighting continued through 22 June
as Abkhaz forces fired missiles at Sukhumi and at a ship delivering
aid, ITAR-TASS reported. -Catherine Dale
KYRGYZ PRESIDENT LEAVES IRAN. Kyrgyzstan's President Askar Akaev
left Iran on 23-June, after three days of talks in Tehran and
Mashhad, ITAR-TASS reported. The Iranian and Kyrgyzstan delegations
signed seven different cooperation treaties, ranging from scientific
and cultural exchanges to economic investment. Iranian president
Hashemi Rafsanjani reportedly told Akaev about his government's
eagerness to expand ties with all Central Asian states. -Keith
Martin
UZBEK DELEGATION OBLIGED TO LEAVE US. A delegation of parliamentarians
from Uzbekistan was obliged to cut short a visit to the US, according
to an RFE/RL correspondent in Washington. The legislators were
sent home by the US State Department after only one week of a
projected two-week stay. State Department spokesman Michael McCurry
said on 22-June that the US is also considering freezing other
bilateral programs; he was quoted as saying, "It would be entirely
inappropriate to engage in activities from which Uzbek officials
would benefit." The US-Uzbek row is over an incident on 25 May
in which an Uzbek working for the US embassy in Tashkent was
allegedly beaten by Uzbek secret police at Tashkent airport in
the presence of a US government official. The local Uzbek language
newspaper Turkestan, in a 15 June article, claimed the woman
in question had provoked the incident herself, and that she had
not been beaten. The US is insisting on a full and fair inquiry
into the incident. -Keith Martin
CIS
BLACK SEA FLEET OFFICERS REJECT AGREEMENT. On 23 June an assembly
of officers of the Black Sea Fleet's air arm denounced the Moscow
agreement signed by presidents Yeltsin and Kravchuk that would
split the fleet starting in September 1993. The officers declared
that they favored a unified fleet, rather than two separate ones.
This position has also been advocated by the Commander of the
fleet (in Krasnaya zvezda 20 May 1993) and by a gathering of
all officers of the fleet (Radio Rossii, 21 June 1993). These
developments suggest that the politicians' attempts to resolve
the problem may be opposed, and even hindered, by the fleet's
servicemen. -John Lepingwell
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
HUNGARIAN DEMOCRATIC FORUM EXPELS CSURKA. The ethics committee
of the ruling Hungarian Democratic Party on 22 June expelled
the ultranationalist writer-politician Istvan Csurka and parliamentary
deputy B. Izabella Kiraly, MTI announced. On the basis of the
forum's disciplinary rules, Csurka was automatically expelled
for joining another party. Kiraly was expelled for domestic and
foreign political views "incompatible" with those of the HDF.
The case of deputies Gyula Zacsek and Gyorgy Szilasy, who are
currently visiting the United States, remains open, and the ethics
committee will further discuss what action to take against the
other HDF deputies who joined Csurka's Hungarian Justice Party.
Forum Chairman and Prime Minister Jozsef Antall said the presence
in the HDF parliamentary faction of a group that had formed a
separate faction and party whose views and program differed from
those of the HDF is "unthinkable." -Alfred Reisch
NEW RACIST VIOLENCE IN HUNGARIAN TOWN. The Roma organization
Phralipe in Eger and the Alliance of Free Democrats party faction
in the local government have requested a report from the police
following a new wave of racist violence in the city, MTI reports.
A few months' lull ended in early May when skinheads and Gypsies
fought a battle with knives; this was followed by the desecration
of several cemeteries, including the Jewish one, an open parade
of 6 to 8-skinheads on the day marking the anniversary of the
Holocaust, and the near fatal beating with a baseball bat of
a Gypsy by a 17-year old skinhead last Sunday. Eger is known
to have a strong concentration of skinheads. -Alfred Reisch
HUNGARY'S BORDER GUARD TURNS PROFESSIONAL. According to Maj.
Gen. Balazs Novaky, National Commander of Hungary's Border Guard,
the number of career border guards rose from 3,000 to 7,000 in
the past three years, while the number of draftees serving in
the guard fell from 14,000 to 8,900, MTI reports. As a result
of a reorganization begun in 1990, Hungary's 2,200 kilometers
of borders are now guarded by professionals, and the same applies
to passport controls at most border crossing points. The switch
to professionals was needed because of a twofold increase in
the number of travelers in the past three years and the even
bigger rise in the number of border violators. The border guard
now has 19 rapid deployment companies watching not only the country's
southern border but also actively hindering border violations.
Some 10,000 border violators were apprehended in the first five
months of this year, 16% less than during the same period in
1992, and more than 300,000 persons were turned back for lack
of proper documents. - Alfred Reisch
IS THE PARTITION OF BOSNIA IMMINENT? INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ON 23
JUNE REPORT ON THE PEACE TALKS IN GENEVA SLATED FOR THAT DAY.
Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his Croat counterpart,
Mate Boban, are believed to have a plan that will give the Muslims
even less land than the Tudjman-Milosevic proposal leaves them.
Bosnia will be represented by seven members of its collective
presidency, but President Alija Izetbegovic and Vice President
Ejup Ganic refuse to participate in what they regard as the destruction
of their country. Izetbegovic told reporters that the seven people
have no right to negotiate or to sign anything, and media reports
suggest that Izetbegovic and Ganic are the two most influential
men among the Bosnian Muslims and the military. Karadzic warned
the Muslims to take what is offered or be left with even less
in the future. Meanwhile in Croatia, speculation continues about
a possible split in the ruling Croatian Democratic Community
and a new realignment of political forces. Official denials have
only fueled the rumors, such as the suggestion that President
Franjo Tudjman has asked former Yugoslav Prime Minister Ante
Markovic to head the Croatian government. -Patrick Moore
KRAJINA SERB LEADER SAYS NO TO EARLY UNITY. Goran Hadzic, president
of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serb Krajina, told reporters
in Geneva on 22-June that there are no plans for immediate unification
of Serb territories in Croatia and Bosnia. He said the 19-20
June referendum on unity had been "just to test the will of the
people." Serbs in Croatia's regions of Krajina and Eastern Slavonia
voted overwhelmingly for unification with the self-declared Serb
Republic in Bosnia. Bosnian and Krajina Serbs will hold a joint
session of their assemblies on 28 June to set a timetable for
unification. Hadzic said "We have no plans for unity-not so soon,"
adding that the outcome of negotiations on dividing Bosnia into
three ethnic areas "will definitely influence" the Serbs' decision.
Radio Croatia remarked that Hadzic might simply be adopting a
conciliatory tone before the resumption of negotiations with
Croatian officials. Talks between the two sides broke-down after
Croatian troops overran a year-old UN-mediated cease-fire line
in the Krajina in January. Radios Croatia and Serbia carried
the report. -Milan Andrejevich
UN TROOPS TO MACEDONIA. MILS reports that the arrival of the
first contingent of US troops is being eagerly awaited in Skopje.
Citing concerns about the potential for the spread of the Bosnian
conflict, the US government has decided to dispatch some 300
US troops to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to bolster
existing UN peacekeeping forces. The main focus of the enhanced
force is monitoring the potentially volatile border with Serbia.
Unrest in the ethnically Albanian province of Kosovo is also
a major concern. Should Serbian repression there continue, many
Kosovars would likely flee to Macedonia rather than to the economically
paralyzed Albania. At present, with roughly 20% of its population
ethnically Albanian, Macedonia would find an influx of Albanian
refugees highly destabilizing. The Albanian minority there is
increasingly dissatisfied with its position and continues to
strive for autonomy. AFP quotes Muhamed Halili, head of the Albanian
deputies in the Skopje parliament, as saying the Albanians "want
their political and territorial autonomy," and added that with
or without Skopje's support that end will be achieved. -Robert
Austin
TRADING WITH VOUCHER PRIVATIZATION SHARES BEGINS IN PRAGUE. On
22 June the long-awaited trading with shares obtained by individual
investors and investment funds under the voucher privatization
scheme earlier this year began at the Prague Stock Exchange.
The exchange opened in March 1993. Exchange officials say only
a small volume of shares in just 6 of about 620 companies whose
shares were on offer was traded. Jiri Franc, the exchange's general
secretary, told reporters that the small volume of trade shares
was not unexpected, because "no one could expect a serious investor
to place huge orders into a market he knows virtually nothing
about." -Jiri Pehe
NEW CZECH HEALTH CARE MINISTER. At the request of Prime Minister
Vaclav Klaus, on 22 June President Vaclav Havel recalled Health
Care Minister Petr Lom and replaced him with Ludek Rubas, a parliamentary
deputy for Klaus's ruling Civic Democratic Party. Klaus told
journalists in Prague that Rubas, a pediatric surgeon by profession,
can be expected to restore confidence in the ministry. Lom, also
a member of Klaus's party, has been criticized for not being
able to defend the ambitious program of privatizing health care
that his ministry launched at the beginning of 1993. -Jiri Pehe
SHALIKASHVILI VISITS SLOVAKIA. Gen. John Shalikashvili, NATO
Supreme Commander in Europe, arrived in Slovakia on 22 June for
a two-day official visit. TASR reports that after talks with
Premier Vladimir Meciar, Shalikashvili said the "failure" in
Yugoslavia shows that closer cooperation between the UN and East
European nations is necessary. During a meeting with Shalikashvili,
President Michal Kovac repeatedly confirmed Slovakia's interest
in joining NATO and said that American military presence in Europe
"remains justified." Shalikashvili also met with Defense Minister
Imrich Andrejcak. -Sharon Fisher
TEMPORARY MINISTERIAL CHANGES IN SLOVAK GOVERNMENT. On 22 June
President Michal Kovac accepted the resignations of Privatization
Minister Lubomir Dolgos and Education and Science Minister Matus
Kucera and approved Premier Vladimir Meciar's proposal to solve
the temporary personnel problems resulting from the vacancies.
TASR reports that according to the plan, Meciar himself will
preside over the Ministry of Privatization, while Deputy Premier
Roman Kovac will hold the post of Minister of Education and Science.
This arrangement is expected to last only for two to three weeks,
when coalition negotiations between the ruling Movement for a
Democratic Slovakia and the Slovak National Party (SNS) should
be concluded. These posts are likely to be filled by SNS members.
Meanwhile, according to results of a May poll by the Slovak Statistical
office released on 22-June, the MDS has the support of only 17%
of the population, followed by the Party of the Democratic Left
with 14% and the SNS with 9%. -Sharon Fisher
POLISH ELECTION CAMPAIGN ROUNDUP. PAP reported several new developments
on 22-June. President Lech Walesa presented his action plan for
the Nonparty Bloc to Support Reforms (BBWR) to state radio and
television employees. Four people per voivodship are to be authorized
to propagate the BBWR among the four potential interest groups.
Local election committees have already been set up in Cracow,
Gdansk, and Czestochowa by different groups. Walesa received
two business federations. One of them gave its support to the
BBWR; the other expressed support for some of the president's
initiatives but said it would not get involved with any political
groups. Jan Olszewski, former prime minister and leader of one
of the center-right opposition parties that recently formed an
election coalition called Polish Union, said that the new coalition's
campaign would focus on economic and social themes rather than
on decommunization with which those parties have mostly become
associated. Finally, the traditionally anticommunist Polish Socialist
Party is caught in a struggle between its central authorities
which are trying to negotiate an election pact with the former
communist satellite peasant and democratic parties and a breakaway
group led by former chairman Piotr Ikonowicz who is negotiating
seats on the lists of the postcommunist Democratic Left Alliance.
-Anna Sabbat-Swidlicka
POLISH BANK MAKES STOCK EXCHANGE DEBUT. The Wielkopolski Credit
Bank SA, the first of the nine Polish state-owned banks to be
privatized, made a successful debut on Warsaw's stock exchange
on 22-June. PAP said that shares closed at 350,000 zloty, three
times the April issue price, and an all-time record for the Polish
stock exchange. -Anna Sabbat-Swidlicka
THREE FOREIGN MINISTERS VISIT BUCHAREST. The foreign ministers
of Australia, Gareth Evans, and Thailand, Prasong Soonsiri, paid
official visits to Romania on 19-22, and 20-22 June, respectively.
They had talks with their Romanian counterpart Teodor Melescanu,
and were received by President Ion Iliescu and Prime Minister
Nicolae Vacaroiu. On 21 June Romania and Australia signed an
agreement on protecting mutual investments. Evans told journalists
that the agreement would encourage Australian investments in
Romania. On 22-June Lithuanian Foreign Minister Povilas Gylys
began a three-day official visit to Bucharest. A friendship and
cooperation treaty between Romania and Lithuania is expected
to be initialed during the visit. -Dan Ionescu
US TO SELL SUBSIDIZED WHEAT TO ROMANIA. According to an RFE/RL
correspondent in Washington, the US Department of Agriculture
has agreed to sell 36,600 tons of wheat to Romania at subsidized
prices. The Department says it will pay a subsidy of over $24-per
ton to a US exporter to sell the grain below the current world
price. A former traditional exporter of cereals, Romania has
had to import millions of tons over the last several years to
cover shortages resulting from decades of mismanagement of agriculture.
Premier Nicolae Vacaroiu recently expressed hopes that good crops
will allow Romania to stop importing cereals later this year.
-Dan Ionescu
BANKS HALT TALKS ON BULGARIA'S DEBTS. On 22-June Juergen Haus,
representing the Deutsche Bank, announced that talks on Bulgaria's
debt load will not continue into the third day but have been
suspended for the time being, apparently for procedural reasons.
Eleven Western creditor banks are involved in the talks chaired
by the Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt. Haus suggested they could
continue in the near future. In March the banks agreed to slash
Bulgarian debts by 38%, but, according to Bulgarian media, Sofia
is presently hoping to have approximately 50% of its debts written
off. -Stan Markotich
UKRAINIAN DEPUTIES CRITICIZE ISRAELI OFFICIAL. More than 12 deputies
have signed a statement denouncing Shevach Weiss, speaker of
the Israeli parliament, for his address to the Ukrainian parliament
last week, Reuters reported on 22 June. They claim that Weiss
accused the Ukrainian people as a whole of collaboration with
the Nazis during World War II. In a letter of response Weiss
asserted that the source of the controversy was a translation
error that failed to convey that he referred to the Ukrainian
people "in part." Foreign Minister Anatolii Zlenko accepted Weiss'
response and said that relations between Israel and Ukraine remain
fine. Since its independence, Ukraine has gone to some lengths
to cultivate good relations with Israel and encourage the development
of Jewish culture in Ukraine. -Susan Stewart
RUSSIA CONSIDERING SANCTIONS AGAINST ESTONIA. Deputy Russian
Foreign Minister Vitalii Churkin told the press on 22 June that
Moscow is considering economic and political measures in response
to Estonia's controversial new law on foreigners. The law requires
noncitizens to apply for a residence permit within one year.
Churkin claims that the law would place Estonia's Russian-speaking
population in the position of "illegal immigrants," while Estonian
Prime Minister Mart Laar says that the law is consistent with
European norms. On 22 June Laar held talks with opponents of
the law in Narva, where the population is predominantly Russian,
Baltic and Russian media reported. -Dzintra Bungs
RUBIKS TRIAL POSTPONED AGAIN. The Latvian Supreme Court decided
to adjourn the hearing of the case of former Latvian Communist
Party leaders Alfreds Rubiks and Ojars Potreki until 30 June.
Refusing entirely to cooperate, Rubiks claimed immunity on account
of his having been elected to the Latvian parliament. Actually,
his status as a deputy still has to be confirmed by the parliament
when it meets on 6-July, Baltic media reported on 22 June. -Dzintra
Bungs
LITHUANIAN PREMIER IN US. On 21 June Prime Minister Adolfas Slezevicius
asked US National Security advisor Anthony Lake to send observers
to monitor the withdrawal of Russian troops from his country.
Slezevicius also had a meeting with World Bank President Lewis
Preston on receiving credits that would help Lithuania settle
its debt to Russia for natural gas. On 22 June he held talks
with Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who announced that
the US is planning to establish a $50 million Baltic American
Enterprise Fund to assist small and medium-size businesses in
the three Baltic States. He also held talks with IMF Managing
Director Michel Camdessus and US Agriculture Secretary Michael
Espy, Radio Lithuania reports. -Saulius Girnius
HIGH LEVEL OF RADIOACTIVITY AT LITHUANIAN AIRPORT. The Lithuanian
Environment Department announced that the average radioactivity
level at the aircraft maintenance workshops of the former Russian
military airport at Zokniai near Siauliai was registered at 1,000
microroentgens per hour-40 times the permissible level, Radio
Lithuania reported on 22 June. Former employees said that some
radioactive waste had been buried at the airport. There are three
sites where the radioactivity level is 1,600 microroentgens/hour.
-Saulius Girnius
[As of 1200 CET]
Compiled by Stephen Foye and Charles Trumbull
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